Fabrizio Romano has said that Tottenham Hotspur fought tooth and nail in an effort to beat Barcelona to Brazilian sensation Vitor Roque last summer but were unable to do so.
Roque is widely viewed as one of the best-attacking talents to emerge from Brazilian football over the last few years.
The striker has found the back of the net 21 times and provided eight assists for Athletico Paranaense this season and has already been capped by the Selecao despite being just 18 years of age.
During last summer’s transfer window, Mundo Deportivo reported that Spurs were trying to hijack Barca’s move for the teenager as the Catalan giants were delaying sending over the papers for the transfer despite striking a deal with Paranaense.
However, in the end, Barcelona managed to wrap up the deal for the centre-forward, signing him for an initial fee of £26m, which could rise to £52m if some performance-related add-ons are achieved, with the youngster set to link with the La Liga side next summer (Daily Mail).
After his client’s move to Cam Nou went through, Roque’s agent even claimed on the Charla Podcast back in July that Spurs were willing to pay over €100m (£85.6m) for his client but the striker had his heart set on a move to Barca.
Spurs put up a major fight to sign Vitor Roque
Romano has now confirmed that Tottenham were not in the mood to give up on the striker in the summer and kept trying till the very end to hijack the transfer.
The journalist told Kick: “Vitor Roque is going to be a key player for Barca. Barca did a big fight to sign Vitor Roque. Many clubs wanted Vitor Roque.
“I can tell you behind the scenes that Tottenham tried till the end of the story with Barcelona, till they signed the final page of the contract to hijack the deal for Vitor Roque. Tottenham were there. Tottenham were really strong and serious on that opportunity.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Based on Tottenham’s concrete attempts to sign Roque in the summer and their eventual acquisition of Alejo Veliz, it is quite clear that the North London club are keeping close tabs on the best-emerging players from South America.
That is a market that the Lilywhites are likely to return to over the next few transfer windows, with the club attempting to find hidden gems through their data-led approach to recruitment.
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